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| Sky, TalkTalk and CityFibre link up for ultra-fast network in York | Sky, TalkTalk and CityFibre link up for ultra-fast network in York |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The city of York is to have the fastest broadband speeds in Britain after four telecoms groups, led by Sky and TalkTalk, announced plans to build an ultrafast network. | The city of York is to have the fastest broadband speeds in Britain after four telecoms groups, led by Sky and TalkTalk, announced plans to build an ultrafast network. |
| Capable of delivering speeds of up to 1 gigabit per second (1Gbps), the infrastructure project is the biggest challenge yet to BT's monopoly of the UK's fixed-line telecoms infrastructure. | |
| York's network will be built by the Japanese electronics firm Fujitsu and CityFibre, a British fibre infrastructure provider which already owns 29,000km of fibre and sells high speeds to public sector, mobile network and business clients. | York's network will be built by the Japanese electronics firm Fujitsu and CityFibre, a British fibre infrastructure provider which already owns 29,000km of fibre and sells high speeds to public sector, mobile network and business clients. |
| The companies say they intend to bring ultra-fast broadband to two further cities – as yet un-named – across the UK. | The companies say they intend to bring ultra-fast broadband to two further cities – as yet un-named – across the UK. |
| York's network will beat BT and Virgin Media's top speeds by running fibre optic cables all the way to buildings, serving tens of thousands of homes and businesses in the city. | York's network will beat BT and Virgin Media's top speeds by running fibre optic cables all the way to buildings, serving tens of thousands of homes and businesses in the city. |
| While the UK has pockets of fibre to the premises – in areas such as Yorkshire and Hull, for example – this will be the first engineering project to install ultra-fast on a city-wide basis. | While the UK has pockets of fibre to the premises – in areas such as Yorkshire and Hull, for example – this will be the first engineering project to install ultra-fast on a city-wide basis. |
| BT's infrastructure only takes fibre as far as the street cabinet, relying on copper for the final mile to the doorstep, and its top speed is currently up to 300 megabits per second (300Mbps). | BT's infrastructure only takes fibre as far as the street cabinet, relying on copper for the final mile to the doorstep, and its top speed is currently up to 300 megabits per second (300Mbps). |
| Targeting a city of 200,000 inhabitants, this will be one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects undertaken by Sky and TalkTalk, which until now have relied entirely on BT's own network to reach their customers. | Targeting a city of 200,000 inhabitants, this will be one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects undertaken by Sky and TalkTalk, which until now have relied entirely on BT's own network to reach their customers. |
| The project will give them the chance to test what they claim is a cost-effective approach to building a pure fibre network independently of BT. Details such as launch dates and pricing are still to be confirmed. | The project will give them the chance to test what they claim is a cost-effective approach to building a pure fibre network independently of BT. Details such as launch dates and pricing are still to be confirmed. |
| Sky, TalkTalk and CityFibre will each hold a 33.3% equity stake in the joint venture, with the smaller operator making its contribution in kind through the use of fibre it has already installed in York. | Sky, TalkTalk and CityFibre will each hold a 33.3% equity stake in the joint venture, with the smaller operator making its contribution in kind through the use of fibre it has already installed in York. |
| "TalkTalk has a long history and proven track record of disrupting new markets, and this is the next step in that journey," said the company's chief executive Dido Harding. "We are excited to be working in partnership with Sky and CityFibre to build this new network that will offer significantly higher speeds at much better value than is currently available. This marks TalkTalk taking its first steps into investing in building infrastructure as part of our mission to make British homes and businesses better off." | "TalkTalk has a long history and proven track record of disrupting new markets, and this is the next step in that journey," said the company's chief executive Dido Harding. "We are excited to be working in partnership with Sky and CityFibre to build this new network that will offer significantly higher speeds at much better value than is currently available. This marks TalkTalk taking its first steps into investing in building infrastructure as part of our mission to make British homes and businesses better off." |
| York city council leader James Alexander said: "This announcement makes York the digital infrastructure capital of the UK. Gaining ultra-fast broadband across the city is a huge boost for our economy; providing significant new opportunities for businesses based here and better quality and value to our residents." | York city council leader James Alexander said: "This announcement makes York the digital infrastructure capital of the UK. Gaining ultra-fast broadband across the city is a huge boost for our economy; providing significant new opportunities for businesses based here and better quality and value to our residents." |